SORP 2018 Webinar Series

Visitor Use Management

Webinar 2: Visitor Use Monitoring Program Development and Implementation

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

11am Pacific / 12pm Mountain / 1pm Central / 2pm Eastern

SORP webinars are free to members and $45 for non-members. You can become a member online and immediately get the member rate.

DESCRIPTION OF PRESENTATION

Webinar #2 will focus on understanding how to develop and implement a visitor use monitoring program along with a few applied examples from a municipal level open space program in Boulder, Colorado. SORP has assembled four presenters to discuss:

Developing a visitor use monitoring program

Choosing specific themes/topics + data collection methods, metrics

Designing a sampling plan

Applied examples

Ensuring program capacity and sustainability

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Gain insight into issues to consider as you contemplate implementing a visitor use monitoring program

OSMP OverviewThe City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks Department is a municipal open space program located in the Colorado Front Range. Our mission is “to preserve and protect the natural environment and land resources that characterize Boulder. We foster appreciation and uses that sustain the natural values of the land for current and future generations.” We currently manage over 45,000 acres of land and are structured around multiple charter purposes. Two of eight charter purposes provide for the provision of recreation opportunities. The Human Dimensions Program was developed to scientifically understand visitation to OSMP managed lands using defensible data collection methods, and how we are delivering on the two recreation-related charter purposes.

Deonne VanderWoude BioDeonne has over 15 years of experience in monitoring human systems within public lands and started her career researching the sociology of wildfire defense in Boulder, Colorado. She has been working with OSMP since 2004. She started in a seasonal visitor use technician position and eventually championed the development and management of a formal Human Dimensions Program. Her areas of interest include study design, social science theory, application of social science to interdisciplinary problems, social psychology and quantification of the human system in public lands. She has degrees in Environmental Anthropology and Environmental Studies and enjoys the application of these fields to real-world situations.

Colin Leslie BioColin Leslie has been working for the City of Boulder OSMP department as a Human Dimensions Coordinator since 2016. Prior to joining OSMP he worked for the US Geological Survey Social and Economic Analysis branch, focusing on stakeholder conservation value research for waterfowl and wetlands, and documenting public and private industry applications for Landsat satellite imagery. He also spent a number of years with the National Park Service, specializing in social science and visitor use related research. He holds a Master of Science in Human Dimensions of Natural Resource from Colorado State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from Humboldt State University. His interests include exploring geographic dimensions of human-natural resource interactions, data analysis and visualization, and designing tools to help public land managers more effectively and efficiently make management and policy decisions.

Heidi Seidel BioHeidi joined the Open Space and Mountain Parks department 3.5 years ago. She started off on the Education and Outreach team, but quickly found a deep interest in learning more about the visitors of Open Space and Mountain Parks urban-proximate land system. This sparked her interest in further understanding visitors’ attitudes, behaviors, perceptions, and values of the natural landscape. Heidi’s degree is Environmental Education and love of the outdoors contributes to her desire to conserve, protect, and make data-driven decisions to best support land managers in providing overall positive visitor experiences and properly aligning program development.

Anna Kellogg BioAnna joined Open Space and Mountain Park’s Human Dimensions team in 2016. She has a background in tourism and environmental consulting and loves the interdisciplinary work of balancing social and natural sciences. She has a master’s degree in Conservation Leadership (Human Dimensions) and bachelor's degrees in Psychology and Anthropology.